Does Jesus Judge?
I think this is a question that is central to Christian belief, so I spent some time carefully researching it.
Here’s what I found.
For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
My thoughts: Okay, so the Son judges.
“I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.”
Okay, again, the Son judges.
“You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.”
Oh wait… so the Son doesn’t judge? Or just not by human standards? Okay, so he still judges, he just doesn’t “pass judgement,” that is, proclaim a sentence, because his judgement is of a higher standard.
From here forward, we need to make the distinction between “judge” and “pass judgement.” To judge means to determine what is true or not. To “pass judgement” is to bring a reprieve or a punishment.
Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him — the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”
Great, here is the full answer. So Jesus doesn’t “pass judgement” directly, but rather, he judges through the Word, which is sort of like gravity. If you jump off of a tall building hoping to fly without a glider, you will hit the pavement. You made the decision - not Jesus - by choosing to jump or not, because you knew the rules of gravity.
So does Jesus judge? My conclusion is yes, but not in the same way as many might think of a court of law. Rather, his judgement is built into the very fabric of the cosmos. He enforces that judgement by setting the boundaries of heaven, loving the sinner, but hating the sin. He doesn’t turn anyone away who comes to him sincerely. The only time the Gospels record Jesus angry was when he was reproaching hypocrites, such as when he cleared the temple of the money changers. His judgement is by his Word, which comes from the Father. Because the Father is the essence of creation, people actually self-inflict punishment upon themselves when they turn away from the Son.
Once Jesus came into the world, mankind no longer had the same excuses for sin, because Jesus came as the light of the world, to show us the way to live.
An important concept to understand is that the Father within Jesus is nothing but goodness. Sometimes that goodness may involve punishment, but he never wants that result. He wills that the sin never occurs in the first place, but if it does occur, allowing a consequence is the most loving outcome for everyone, not only to help reform the person, but more importantly to protect the innocent.
All right, so we know that Jesus judges, albeit in the most loving way possible by allowing natural consequences to take their course. But what about the rest of us, are we supposed to judge also?
It depends on what is being examined, whether internal or external things.
Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
You may have heard somebody else say, “Don’t judge me,” after that person has done something they’re ashamed of doing and are challenged on it. Are they in the right in saying this?
Judge not, that you be not judged.
For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
This doesn’t mean we should never judge, after all, Jesus also said “judge with righteous judgement.” It simply means we should use the correct order of operation in our judgement process, first looking inside ourselves, considering the context of our own mistakes, before finalizing our judgement.
It also means we shouldn’t judge people’s spiritual intentions, because only God knows those. We can and absolutely should, however, judge how to respond to a person’s actions.
We should judge like Jesus does by allowing natural consequences to take their course while enforcing boundaries, never taking the law into our own hands where it isn’t under our jurisdiction to do so, and only applying force in self-defense as a last resort.
Making a mental assessment is different from enacting a judgement and proclaiming a sentence.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
From Supplements #28, by Emanuel Swedenborg:
“The Lord appeared in a bright cloud, surrounded by angels, and out of the cloud came a sound like trumpets. This was a sign representing the Lord’s protection of heaven’s angels and his gathering of good people from all sides. The Lord does not bring destruction on anyone. All he does is protect his own and withdraw them from their communication with the evil. Once the good people have been withdrawn, the evil become fully engaged in their own obsessions and therefore plunge into all kinds of reprehensible behavior.”
